Huntsville gazette., 1887-05-14
THE GARFIELD STATUE,

WASHINGTON, May IA National salute
| was fired at sunrise at Washington barracks
in honor of the day that witnessed the un-
yelling of the statue Of Garfield erected by
the society of the Army of the Cumberland.
| At 10 o'clock this morning the members of
the society met at the Arlington hotel, and
| thence marched to the new Grand Army of
| the Republic hall. Here the procession was
| formed and took up the line Of March at
| 11:30, the District militia and the various
G. A. R. posts participating with the veter-
ans Of the society in the parade.
| Long before noon the streets leading to the
junction of First street and Maryland avenue
were packed with people. A solid phalanx
twenty deep were ranged on the sidewalks
| that circled the space, in the center of which
the veiled statue rested on its granite base.
| At 12 O'Clock sharp the grand stand was
thrown open and the invited guests were
quickly assigned to seats. Among the first
to arrive were the sons of Gen. fairfield, the
Hon. w. w. Corcoran and Judge Hagner
| Secretary Bayard and Attorney General
Garland were the first members of the cab
met to arrive. They were followed by Chief
| Justice Waite and the associate justices of
the supreme court.
! At l o'clock the president, accompanied by
| Gen Sheridan, arrived. simultaneously the
van guard of the procession appeared in
| quick march from Pennsylvania avenue.
| Col. Wilson then announced that the pro-
ceedings would be opened with prayer by the
Rev. s. H. Gesyd, d. After Mr.. Giesyd
had concluded his prayer, the ''Star Spangled
| Banner" was very effectively rendered by the
I full marine band. As the last note died
away, at twenty minutes past l o'clock, the
| American flag which had covered the statue
was quickly dragged away. The salute from
the south front of the capitol was then fired,
after which Gen. Sheridan introduced the
orator Of the day, Hon. J. Warren Keifer,
who proceeded to deliver his grafton, long
and elaborate eulogium.
| Gen. Keifer, in his address at the unveiling
of the statue, said that the statue lis mainly
a tribute from Garfield's immediate compan-
ions of the army of the Cumberland, with
which he served and in which chief of
| staff he bore so conspicuous part"
| After describing the pedestal and the statue
the speaker said that to be great in Garfield's
| time required higher moral and mental
qualities than were requisite in any other era
of the worlds history In describing the
circumstances that surround the generation
of Americans now passing away, the speaker
said:
| "More is expected, more is required and
more is essential to make good citizen of
| our constitutional free government than is
or was ever expected and required or is or
| ever was essential to constitute good citi-
zen or subject of any other government on
| earth
| He then applied this line Of thought to
scholar, soldier and statesman, saying, in
passing, that:
"a single battle of the rebellion resulted
! frequently in more casualties, in either con-
! tending army, than in all the campaigns of
some former prolonged wars. The killed
and wounded in single brigade during the
war frequently Outnumbered the American
killed and wounded in the seven years of the
| revolution Many of the comrades now be-
| fore me saw more of the terrors of bloody
conflict in single day than were witnessed
| in the whole military Life of Gen. Washing
| ton"
| He then gave a sketch of Garfield's life,
| dwelling more particularly upon his military
record. In this connection he read the fol-
| lowing letter, written by Garfield to friend
at the outbreak of the war:
| II have (he says had curious interest in
watching the process in my own mind, by
which the fabric of my mind is being demol
| ished and reconstructed to meet The new
condition of affairs. One by oneimy old plans
| and aims, modes of thought and feeling, are
| found to be inconsistent with present duty,
| and are set aside to give place to the new
structure of military life. 1t is not without
regret, almost fearful at times, that look
upon the ruins But if, as the result of the
| broken plans and shattered individual lives
of thousands of American citizens we can
see. on the ruins of our National errors, a
new and enduring fabric arise, based on
larger freedom and higher justice, it will be
small sacrifice indeed For myself | am
contented with such a prospect, and regard
| ing my life as given to the country, am only
anxious to make as much of it as possible
before the mortgage upon it is foreclosed."
OF Garfeld's method and power as 9
speaker Gen. Keifer said:
st was his singular good fortune to bt
able tn think and come up to his supremes1
intellectual strength on his feet, under the
excitement of public speech, rather thar
j with his pen when in his seat His speeches
were not distinguished for fiorid rhetorical
display, but rather for strong, concise state
ments which in themselves were better than
ordinary arguments Facts well summar
ized he knew the value of, and therefore
used them as the basis OF all his oratorica
powers. Often his best friends appealed te
| him not to correct the notes of his speeches
lest in his desire to conform his language to
the highest standard of refined rhetoric and
purest diction, he would leave them shorn o.
some portion of their power and strength
Garfield was by nature left handed, and
sometimes on great occasions when he rost
to speak, he at first seemed awkward. Thi,
IL disappeared as his genius flashed out IL